US cuts dumping duty on tra fish

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) on Thursday announced its final decision on the seventh preliminary results of administrative review (POR7) for anti-dumping duties on tra fish fillets imported from Viet Nam, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Farmers feed tra fish in Can Tho. The US has granted a 0 to 1 per cent tax for 13 Vietnamese tra fish exporters for the period between August 1, 2009, and July 31, 2010. — VNA/VNS Photo An Dang

Under the decision, the DoC chose Bangladesh as the sole benchmark for calculating the anti-dumping rate and decided to grant a 0 to 1 per cent tax for 13 Vietnamese exporters between August 1, 2009 and July 31, 2010, said Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary.

Vinh Hoan Corp enjoyed a zero tax rate while the US imposed a 1 per cent rate on 12 other companies and the remaining exporters were taxed 6.44 per cent

This was the third consecutive period that Vinh Hoan had been awarded a zero tax rate, Hoe said.

An initial review released by the US in September 2011 based the benchmark rate on both Bangladesh and Indonesia, and would have led to some exporters paying up to a 15 per cent anti-dumping tax. However, following petitioning by State agencies requesting the benchmark be based on one country as in previous reviews, the DoC amended its review in favour of Vietnamese exporters.

VASEP estimated that last year, tra fish exports reached over 600,000 tonnes, up 3 per cent over the previous year. According to customs' statistics, tra fish export value reached around US$1.8 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 26.5 per cent.

Frozen fillets were the main export, accounting for 99 per cent of total export value.

Export markets remained practically unchanged last year, with the US and the EU representing a combined 47 per cent of Viet Nam's total tra fish exports. Fluctuation was only seen in some small groups of markets, possibly due to unstable demand, VASEP said.

The US last year imported $331.6 million worth of tra fillets, an increase of 87.8 per cent over the previous year, with the market share here rising from 11 to 18 per cent.

The association expected tra fish exports to reach $2 billion this year if the industry was given capital preference and annual interest rates fell below 15 per cent. — VNS